Bayern professional about beginnings
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With a market value of 130 million euros, FC Bayern’s Jamal Musiala is one of the top 10 most valuable players in the world. But the now 21-year-old also started small. In an interview with the Guardian, the attacking midfielder talked about his beginnings and how he developed his skills.
It was October 2010 when his father turned up at Southampton’s St Mary’s Stadium with then seven-year-old Jamal to look for a team for his boy. At that time the family had just come to England from Germany. “My father has always been a very open person and when we first came to Southampton I didn’t have a team to play in and we didn’t know anything about the place,” Musiala began to say: “I wouldn’t entertain this idea everyone, but by chance we met someone there at the stadium who had a local team in the community. Sometimes you just need a little luck. I was in the local team for a while before Southampton noticed me and I had a trial training session with them.”
That person was social worker Jazz Bhatti from Southampton FC, who sent Musiala to his brother’s children’s team, City Central. And the right-footer obviously knew how to convince quickly. After the first 10 minutes, Bhatti’s brother insisted that the FC Southampton scouts should take a look at the Stuttgart native’s skills. Back then, Musiala even overshadowed City Central’s “star player” at the time, a boy named Levi Colwill, now a Chelsea professional.
Shortly afterwards, he also became aware of the Londoners, where Musiala spent eight years in the academy before moving to FC Bayern at the age of 16. At that time he was still playing for the English youth team, where he gained important insights for his later career. “What helped me a lot in England was playing with freedom. When I was with the U-national team in England, the biggest goal was for the young players to just play freely and show their skills. This helped me develop my dribbling and skills and become comfortable in tight situations so I can keep playing even when I make mistakes. Sometimes as a young player you just need freedom.” This is still in his head. “When you’re 15, it’s just dribble, dribble, dribble. If you’re good at that, you can learn the other things.”
Musiala on the future: “I’m open to everything, but I’m very happy where I am now”
At Munich, Musiala is now one of the leading players around whom FC Bayern will be built in the future. His contract currently runs until 2026, but an initial discussion about an extension has already taken place. But the midfielder didn’t want to be told whether a return to England would appeal to him.
“I don’t really have a plan or anything. I try not to think too far ahead of where I want to be because situations can always change from year to year or month to month,” Musiala said: “When I was six years old, I didn’t think about it, at seven years old to be in England! I don’t know it. I’m open to anything, but I’m very happy where I am now.”
You will be happy to hear the last part of the sentence from the German record champions. Bayern President Herbert Hainer recently made it clear to the “Abendzeitung” how important the youngster is for the club. “I have to say that we love our Jamal more than anything. This is a footballer of the century, and our first aim is of course to tie him to FC Bayern in the long term.” Then he should also become one of the top earners.
